Why it is essential for Jews to speak out, as Jews, on Israel

Whether we like it or not, as Jewish Americans we are in the middle of this mess. Not only do our taxes pay for the Israeli occupation of Palestine, but our very bodies have been appropriated by Israel, which claims to speak for Jews everywhere. Certainly it can be said this is an American issue—which of course it is—and certainly religion and ethnicity can be tiresome and traditional. But I think the end result of taking this position and not supporting a Jewish voice against the occupation would abrogate our responsibility to resist injustice and would, in fact, hurt the anti-occupation struggle.

I have participated in several demonstrations in the last few years where just the sight of self-identified Jews denouncing Israel’s policies causes jaws to drop. This visual breaking of the stereotype—of Jews unendingly supporting whatever Israel does—seems to fry the synapses of bystanders. Of course it is met with abuse by some frantic and hysterical Jews who see this as the height of disloyalty. For instance, in addition to the constant refrain of “fuck you,” certain words seem to predominate: “ugly bitch,” “Nazi,” and “traitor.” (The vocabulary of hatred seems to be quite limited.)

But the sight of us doing the unthinkable has many benefits: There are a few Jews who are happy and relieved to see us because it opens the door for them. They have felt uneasy about Israeli policies for a long time, and seeing us seems to give them more courage to speak their minds. There are also some gentiles who are happy to see us because they have been afraid for a long time of being called anti-Semites if they criticize Israel. [continued…]